Peacock pens

The last few weeks have been very busy. Varying working hours, overtime and preparing to run 10 miles take time. Nevertheless, I try to bring a pen review in between. I want to keep my pen rotation system, no matter what. The pen I changed is a Parker Urban Premium CT. In its place will be a Lamy Ideos.

In 2016, Parker updated a number of its products, including the Urban. Where can we locate the Parker Urban? The Urban is located just above the Parker IM. For a new one you quickly pay 95 Euro. The older Parker Urban is easily recognizable by its perceptive hourglass shape. For me the newer one does not have the hourglass shape.

It took some deliberation to judge this fountain pen. When I look at the price, I think it’s a very expensive pen compared to its intrinsic value. Fortunately if you want to buy one, you can buy this pen for just under 50 Euro on iBood, but even then it is expensive.

I first tested the pen with a Parker converter filled with Pelikan Violet ink. I soon ran into problems with skips. Because I didn’t like the feel of the nib either, my first impression was discouraging. When I started looking for the possible cause of the problems, I discovered that the converter at the top was damaged. I then replaced the converter with a new Parker cartridge with black Parker quinck ink. This seemed to solve the skipping problem. So you see how sensitive fountain pens can be and that sometimes it is difficult to find the cause of the problem.

The overall build quality of the pen is good and nicely finished. The parts seem to fit well together and form a beautiful and solid whole. The cap is a snap cap that closes very easily with a nice click. The barrel and cap are made of anodized metal, in this case I suspect aluminum. The top layer is engraved in a square pattern. The cap has the typical Parker arrow as a clip. You can use the cap in a posted way, but because the cap has a larger diameter, the cap is quite unstable, but not in the sense that the cap will fall off.

The hourglass shape of the body of the pen is not that extreme compared to the pre-2016 version, which makes it more beautiful. Both the cap and barrel have a chrome trim. On the barrel chrome trim is engrave the Parker brand name.

The difference between the Premium and a regular Parker Urban is in some details, such as a more luxurious finish. For example, the Premium has a brushed metal grip. The grip also has an hourglass shape. The grip felt very comfortable for me. There is a big step down between the barrel and the grip. There is also a chrome step down between the nib and the grip which can be annoying for those who hold the pen close to the nib. The metal grip ensures, due to its weight, that the balance of the pen shifts towards the nib, which is definitely a plus.

I’m not really enthusiastic about the writing performance of this pen. The pen has a fine nib. The nib is small and wide. The nib doesn’t feel like a well-oiled machine. The nib feels sticky and the ink flow is just enough. Every now and then I’m confronted with a skip. Line variation is virtually non-existent. I quickly compared the writing performance with the old version, where I notice that the ink flow is better with the older one. A plus is that the nib and feed can be removed to make it easier to clean.

The pen has an average weight (24,2 gr. capped and 18,10 gr. uncapped) and length (13,60 cm capped, 12,60 cm uncapped and 14,60 cm posted) and is not an obstacle in that sense.

Parker pens are those pens that have grown my interest in fountain pens, especially at a younger age. Now, however, I have to conclude that the Parker pens, mainly from the lower segment, no longer satisfy me, which certainly applies to the Parker Urban Premium. The writing performance is what makes a pen or not, in this case it is emotionless and I don’t have nice words for it. Keep in mind that the asking price for this pen is around 95 Euro. You will understand that this pen is not a winner for me.

With every pen review I do, I always ask myself whether I would buy this pen again in the given circumstances. Well, it doesn’t happen very often, but unfortunately I have to answer this with a no.

Lamy Ideos

The Lamy brand is well represented in my collection. Well-known and notorious are the Safari an the Al-Star. To take a different approach, I invested a while ago in a Lamy Ideos, perhaps less known but certainly a pen that belongs to the more expensive Lamy’s. I’m really curious what this is going to bring.